William McGrady
Exarch William Jakodi McGrady, 1st Duke of Wallerstein, Viscount Charleston '''KCMT KIC GF KG OB KT (30 October 3243) is a Terran spacer politician and former soldier who is a State Security General officer and the Director of Field Operations within the Ministry of State Security. The second-eldest son of Shannon McGrady, he has become the standard-bearer of his family's political legacy. He has served in his current position for the past twenty two years. Prior to 3267, he was a soldier in the Imperial Army and a member of the National Humanist Imperial Labor Party. After proving himself, he received a political appointment and was rapidly promoted in the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency after his honourable discharge from Army service, achieving the rank of Standardier. In 3270, McGrady played a critical role in the formation of the modern intelligence and national security establishment. The myriad of bureaus and agencies that dealt with intelligence operations were amalgamated into the Imperial State Security Department, and McGrady was promoted to the rank of Prefect and was appointed to be the Director of Field Operations. He was later promoted to Exarch when the ISSD was expanded as the Ministry of State Security, solidifying his position in the chain of command. He is listed as one of the wealthiest men in the Milky Way galaxy, and is often cited in news media as one of the most powerful figures of the current Galactic government, enjoying the confidence of Lord Maximilian Compton and popularity amongst members of the State Sec armed branch. His rivalry with fellow State Security general Xander Vox is well known. Early life and education William McGrady was born on 30 October 3243 to Shannon McGrady, the matriarch of the Irish-American-descended McGrady political family, and her husband, asteroid and gas giant mining magnate Patrick David McGrady (nee Drake). He was raised at the family estate in the orbital habitat Wallerstein, in orbit around the gas giant Kolossen of the Edel star system of the Rosetta Nebula. He had a troubled upbringing, being involved in several altercations at school. He attended St. Ignatius Elementary School from age 5 to 10, and the Wallerstein Catholic Academy of St. Francis and St. Claire from age 10 to 18. It was during his schooling that he first met his eventual wife, Zenzi Rothschild. Upon matriculation from the St. Francis and St. Claire, she graduated valedictorian and he graduated salutatorian, and both were expected to have fine careers in law and politics. He held various jobs throughout his latter years in secondary education, though none of them for very long. Post-education, he was hired on as a junior intern to his elder brother, John P. McGrady during the latter's term as a Councillor for the Kolossen colonial legislature. During this time, he also enrolled for college-preparatory school. He was expected to continue his service under his brother during John's political campaign for Senator to the Inner Colonies Provincial Parliament. However, dissatisfied with living in his brother's shadow and eager to prove himself, he enlisted for military service in late 3262 with the illustrious Cavalry Corps before school could begin. Army service McGrady enlisted two days before his 19th birthday in October 3262. He shipped out for boot camp at Bittrich, the Inner Colonies provincial training depot on New Year's Eve. He graduated basic combat training in March and continued onto Infantry School and Harsh Environment Training until April. His first posting was a quiet garrison duty in the Outer Colonies in the 12th Guards Cavalry Division. However, starting in 3264, the 12th Guards Cavalry was deployed to the Perseid Frontier due to increased insurrectionist activity. McGrady was transferred to 1st Platoon, 505th Dragoons Battalion, which was deployed on police duty on the populated world Nausicaa. At Nausicaa, he and the other members of his squad were key to foiling the terrorist siege of the Windy Heights Academy school building. He was personally awarded the Close Combat Badge for his dispatching of several terrorists. However, the crisis was viewed as a debacle due to several dozen civilian deaths and injuries. In September 3265, the Great War began and the 12th Guards Cavalry was mobilized for immediate deployment. The division first saw action against the Soviet Republic in December as reinforcing ground forces at the battle for Kalabaska, a large, hot terrestrial planet with vital industrial infrastructure and orbital installations. Almost the entirety of 1st Platoon was wiped out in the orbital shuttle drop, with McGrady's squad being the only survivors; this earned the squad the moniker "Lonely Hearts". Their hard-fought journey to the battalion rendezvous point was only the start; over the next several months, the 505th Dragoons bitterly engaged Soviet forces across the planet's single large continent. McGrady was remarked upon in a field report by his squad leader, Staff Sergeant Edward Pepper, "He was a tough little fighter, mean as hell when he had to be. And near about the most fearless trooper in the whole damn division!" Pepper recommended him for promotion, and McGrady was duly promoted to Specialist near the end of the Army campaign to capture Kalabaska. McGrady and the 12th Guards Cavalry were garrisoned at Kalabaska from March to August 3266. For eight months afterwards, they were redeployed for policing duties on various other worlds in the end-stages of capture. In May 3267, they were deployed as part of a large task force to capture the Khoz System. Along with two Marine divisions, and another fourteen reinforcing Army divisions, the 12th Guards Cavalry were landed on the surface of Khoz Prime. The Battle of Khoz turned out to be one of the largest battles of the Great War, with Khoz Prime being the locus of the battle. The fighting lasted six months, during which the 12th Guards Cavalry at first encircled Soviet forces but then themselves became encircled. McGrady served ninety consecutive days on the front lines, earning several decorations including the Close Combat Badge in Silver, the Infantry Assault Badge, and the Bronze Star. He and the Lonely Hearts were dispatched on November 4 to re-establish communications with the 503rd Artillery Battalion. Along the way, they assisted Army forces in City Zone 231 in breaking through Soviet patrol lines. However, half of the squad died in the city, including Staff Sergeant Pepper. McGrady himself was injured along the way during an encounter with dangerous wildlife, and was further injured after the squad left the city during an engagement with enemy armoured forces. With his arm broken, he was forced to recuperate upon arrival to the 503rd Battalion's headquarters. McGrady insisted on being made combat-capable, and was outfitted with a powered arm brace to allow him temporary use of his broken limb. The Lonely Hearts joined the 503rd Battalion's assault on a Soviet fortification, and McGrady again distinguished himself in combat during an infiltration of the fort's powerplant. Upon return to base on November 9, McGrady was awarded for bravery and meritorious action, earning the Silver Star and the Iron Cross as well as the Close Combat Badge in Gold and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver. He was further decorated with three Wound Badges and recommended for discharge. McGrady was honorably discharged from Army service on November 28 3267, two days after surgery removed his damaged arm. Political career Being the son of a powerful political family, William McGrady was expected to make a political career in his adulthood. He had joined the National Humanist Imperial Labor Party at a young age, at his mother's insistence. He was part of the Wallerstein chapter of the party's youth wing until reaching 16, when he reached the age of suffrage. He voted for the National Humanist party in the 3260 Terran Imperial general election, and took a job as a junior intern for his brother's political campaign for the Provincial Parliament. After joining the Army in 3262, McGrady seemed to drop out of politics. However, during his tours of duty during the Great War, he frequently cooperated with National Humanist political officers attached to his unit. After his discharge from the Army, he came to work for the Party security bureau as a field agent under the supervision of political commissar Henry Heavenly. As the Party organization was aligned strongly with the national intelligence community, he was also employed at the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency. He was promoted quickly to the rank of First Spear, a senior enlisted-level rank with considerable prestige. In 3268, he was commissioned as an officer with the rank of Centurion and granted control over a section of about forty operatives, including an elite special action team that he oversaw directly. He was later promoted to the rank of Standardier due to the success of his operatives. In 3270, with the amalgamation of the various national security and intelligence agencies into the Imperial State Security Department, William McGrady was promoted to the rank of Prefect and appointed to be the managerial director of the new Field Operations Agency of the ISSD. His career in party politics came to an end with the abolition of the National Humanist party, and all other political parties, in 3275. He began in earnest his new career in government service as Director of Field Operations for State Security. Since 3276, he has also served as a Senator representing the Field Operations Agency, and later Department, as one of the organization's 100 elected representatives in the Central Galactic Congress. McGrady won re-election in 3282 and 3288 as both Senator and Chairman of the State Security Field Operations Congressional delegation. In 3279, he was granted a baronial title of nobility, and the right to hold a hereditary seat in Congress. In 3286 and 3289 he was conferred an earldom and a dukedom relating to his original barony. State Security career William McGrady had a significant role in the establishment of the modern State Security organization. In 3270, it was decided that the Party security apparatus would be aligned on a one-to-one basis with a new national security institution. That institution was first established in 3270 as the Imperial State Security Department. Compulsory Party membership was mandated for all employees at the ISSD, and equivalency of rank was established to eliminate any "grey area" between the Party and National organizations. McGrady was promoted to the rank of Prefect and appointed by Emperor Maximilian personally to be the director of the Field Operations Agency, with responsibility for pacifying occupied territories, collecting foreign intelligence, and policing the Armed Forces. The agency was referred to by Maximilian as the Empire's "political soldiers", signifying their place as an ideologically-motivated yet professional paramilitary force. By the conclusion of the Great War in 3275, McGrady had been promoted to Exarch, equivalent to an Army Chief Marshal. In the subsequent reorganization of the human Confederation into the Central Galactic Union, the ISSD became the Ministry of State Security. McGrady's Field Operations Agency was greatly expanded in its scope and size, and was given authority to govern and police the occupied territories referred to as the "New Colonies". After the revolt by remnant alien factions in 3279, McGrady's agency was given further responsibility as the highest echeleon of strategic command in the military campaign against the remnant forces. In the same year McGrady was made 1st Baron Wallerstein by the Central Galactic Congress, the first of his family to attain a hereditary title of nobility from a modern state. He was raised to an earldom in 3286 and to a dukedom in 3289. Personal life William McGrady is part of the large, wealthy, and powerful McGrady political and noble family. His mother, Shannon McGrady, is a Life Senator in the Central Galactic Congress and previously served as a Member of Parliament to the Imperial Terran House of Commons, as well as the Speaker of the House of Commons. His father, Patrick David McGrady, was the CEO of Drake Industries prior to the merger with the McGrady Financial Group; since, he has been the President and CEO of the industrial and financial conglomerate McGrady Corporation. His grandfather, Proinsias McGrady, was once the Chairman of the McGrady Financial Group but stepped down some time ago after bankrupting the company; he has not been seen in years, and is believed to have exiled himself within the family's large estate. He has one older brother, John Patrick McGrady, and seven younger siblings: Anne-Marie Brigid McGrady, Genevieve Patricia McGrady, Cynthia Shannon McGrady, Fiona Fachtna McGrady, Peadar Petyr McGrady, Hillary Alice McGrady, and Rory David McGrady. All of his siblings have gone on to excel in their respective fields, and increase the prestige of House McGrady. Anne-Marie is loved by the public of Wallerstein as a philanthropist, particularly for charitable causes involving children and the mentally ill, and is the President of the McGrady Foundation. Genevieve is a renowned and respected lawyer in the former Inner Colonies district and heads one of the oldest spacer law firms, Finbarr and Finnegan LLP. Cynthia has become one of the youngest Cardinals and Archbishops of the Catholic Church. Fiona has sold oil paintings to some of the most famous art galleries in the Galaxy. Peadar has become a fashion icon and an astute businessman with his own clothing line and media production label. Hillary has become a famous actress, singer, and independent businesswoman. David earned renown as one of the most gifted medical polymaths of his time, before his suicide in November 3274, and is the only one of his siblings to have died; he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his efforts in eradicating a haemorrhagic fever that had ravished a remote colony world, a dignity he shares with his colleague Doctor Seilon. William met Zenzi Rothschild in secondary school. Her father, George Francis Rothschild, was the 9th Baron Rothschild of Rothstein, and held his lordship at another colony cluster orbiting the same planet. However, he worked at Wallerstein as it was the more populous of the orbital colonies, and he sent his daughter to school there. McGrady and Rothschild later became reacquainted with each other in the 3260s as soldiers of the 12th Cavalry Division, both serving in the "Lonely Hearts" infantry unit during the Great War. They later served together in Imperial Intelligence and in the Party security apparatus as field agents, during which time her father was named the 1st Duke of Nieuwvaalia of the second creation of that title. Their mutual hardships earned each other's trust and in 3270 they became engaged. With the approval of her father and William's mother, they were married in a lavish ceremony on April 6 3271. The ceremony was held at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Martin in the planetary capital of Martenstaad on Rothschild's ducal seat of Nieuwvaalia, and was officiated by William's sister Cynthia, then Bishop of Rotterdam.. William and Zenzi McGrady have three children. A son, Jakodi Francis "Frankie" McGrady (born 12 November 3272); a daughter, Shannon Lucille "Lucy" McGrady (born 8 May 3275); and a younger son, Malcolm Michael "Mike" McGrady (born 21 June 3285). In 3279, William was granted a noble title in his own right in the peerage of the Republic for his services to the State and to the human race. He was created Baron McGrady of Wallerstein, entitling himself to be referred to as Lord William McGrady, 1st Baron Wallerstein. He is the first member of his family to receive a hereditary grant of nobility by any modern government or state. Previous members had been made knights and baronets during the Empire, but all were non-hereditary titles. He was raised to an Earldom in 3286, and in 3289 to a Dukedom. In 3291, also, he became entitled to use the title Viscount Charleston after his mother was conferred a hereditary peerage of her own, Duchess of the Carolinas and declared her heir presumptive. William McGrady is a fairly tall man and stands at around 202 centimeters in height. Spacers, like General McGrady, tend to be very tall and slender due to the effects of low gravity on their bodies. McGrady is also noted to be an experienced fencer and marksman, having participated in sporting competitions for both sports. It is presumed that fencing is where he obtained his signature scar across the left side of his face. General McGrady has refused to comment to the press on the subject. Summary of Army and State Security career Enlisted in the Terran Imperial Army on 28 October 3262. Went to Basic Training from 1 January to 2 March 3263, Infantry School from 12 March to 12 April 3263, and Harsh Environment Training 15 to 30 April 3263. Assigned to 1st Platoon, 505th Dragoons Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade of the 12th Guards Cavalry Division from 8 May 3263 to 28 November 3267. Honourably discharged from Army service on 28 November 3267. Enlisted in the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency as a field agent on 1 December 3267. Attended Political Training and Leadership Course from 21 June to 20 July 3268. Commissioned an Officer of Imperial Intelligence 21 July 3268. Commissioned a General of State Security 3 November 3270. Dates of rank Army *Recruit (E-0) 28 October 3262. *Private (E-1) 1 January 3263. *Private First Class (E-2) 30 April 3263. *Specialist (E-4) 19 March 3266. Imperial Intelligence *Storm Sergeant (E-8) 1 December 3267 *First Spear of the Legion (E-10) 3 February 3268 *Centurion (O-1) 20 July 3268 *Major (O-4) 25 December 3268 *Standardier (O-6) 2 October 3269 State Security *Prefect (O-9) 3 November 3270 *Tribune (O-10) 6 May 3271 *Legate (O-11) 30 December 3272 *Ducatus (O-13) 17 August 3274 *Exarch (O-14) 2 July 3275 Notable decorations *Grand Star of the Iron Cross *Grand Cross of the Iron Cross *Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves and Swords *Order of the Star of Terra *Order Pour le Merite *Iron Cross *Intelligence Shield *Distinguished Service Cross *Distinguished Intelligence Cross *War Merit Cross *Intelligence Star *Silver Star *Bronze Star *Military Spaceflight Badge *Panzer Badge *Infantry Assault Badge (in Silver) *Close Combat Badge (in Gold) *Wound Badge (3 times) *Army Service Medal *Civil Service Medal *Distinguished State Honor Award *Perseid Frontier Police Action Medal *Kalabaska Campaign Combat Service Medal *Sigarit Campaign Police Action Medal *Urahaz Campaign Police Action Medal *Baharat Campaign Police Action Medal *Annos Campaign Police Action Medal *Khoz Campaign Combat Service Medal Titles, honours, styles, and arms Peerage titles * '''2 July 3275: 1st Baronet * 1 November 3279: Baron McGrady of Wallerstein * 7 January 3286: Earl of Wallerstein * 11 September 3289: Duke of Wallerstein Styles * Lt-Gen Sir William McGrady, KIC (3 Nov 3270) * Gen Sir William McGrady, KIC (6 May 3271) * Col-Gen Sir William McGrady, KIC (30 December 3272) * FM Sir William McGrady, KIC (17 August 3274) * CM The Hon William McGrady, KMT KIC (2 July 3275) * CM The Rt Hon The Baron McGrady of Wallerstein, KCMT KIC GF (1 November 3279) * CM The Rt Hon The Baron McGrady of Wallerstein, KCMT KIC GF KG OB KT (11 December 3281) * CM The Rt Hon The Earl of Wallerstein, KCMT KIC GF KG OB KT (7 January 3286) * CM His Grace The Duke of Wallerstein, GCMT GCIC GF KG OB KT (11 September 3289) * CM His Grace The Duke of Wallerstein, GCMT GSIC GF KG OB KT KP (20 January 3292) Honours * Privy Counsellor of the Terran Empire (3270) * Lord Lieutenant of the Inner Colonies (3271) * Warden of the Occupied Territories (3270) * Warden of the New Colonies (3275) * Knight of the Order of St. Mary of Terra (3275) * Knight-Commander, St. Mary of Terra (3279) * Knight of the Golden Fleece (3279) * Companion of the Order of the Bow (3274) * Knight of the Order of St. Michael (3273) * Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle (3277) * Commander of the Legion of Merit (3276) * Knight of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (3276) * Knight of the Order of St. Stephen (3273) * Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (3273) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle (3277) * Knight of the Garter (3281) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (3281) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Thistle (3281) * Knight of the Iron Cross (3267) Foreign military honours * General of Police of the Empire of Orion * Police Marshal of the Empire of Sagittarius * Police Commandant of the Dominion of Cygnus * Royal Police General of the Kingdom of Crux * Marshal of Gendarmes of the Norman Empire Behind the scenes William McGrady, and the rest of the McGrady family, were originally developed by Jamere Rice as part of a roleplaying game by the Unionverse creative team. He created the character with the concept of a "neutral-evil Jack Kennedy". He played the character, referred to colloquially as "Billy", as a "comedic" sociopath with shades of seriousness. As the character and his backstory developed, and as the character became increasingly displayed in gameplay as a villain, this psychological element became one of the dominant parts of Billy's personality. In-story, he was diagnosed as a sociopath but the matter was brushed under the rug by his very powerful mother, Shannon, who allowed Billy to climb the social ladder to increase the family's national prestige. The disorder manifested itself during his childhood, as Billy often acted out in a violent and aggressive manner. His mother went so far as to implant him with a personality-correcting cybernetic that forced him to feel emotions he didn't understand in order to make him more empathetic. The effect did little to curb his violent urges, and he wound up joining the Army to satisfy them. His brain adapted to the chip's presence, however, and it stopped working at an unspecified point. Billy is also sexually promiscuous as a form of risk-taking behaviour. It is an open secret that he has had many dalliances with men and women. Sometime in 3268, he began a sexual affair with Gracie Gray, a Naval Intelligence cryptanalyst. She clandestinely bore him a daughter, Lydia Gray. She revealed this information to him before deserting to join the resistance against the nascent CGU. In the 3270s he also began having a long-running, on-again-off-again sexual affair with Field Marshal Céleste Beaumont. He has long been engaged in a vicious rivalry with Xander Vox, a former mercenary who rose through State Security the same way Billy did: serving in Beaumont's Raiders and parleying a close association with Emperor Maximilian. Both men are high-functioning sociopaths and have enormous state resources at their disposal, and both have positions of power and prestige both in the State Security apparatus and in polite society.